17 more mass graves found in central Congo, UN says

By Saleh Mwanamilongo

Published 2:20 pm, Wednesday, April 19, 2017

KINSHASA, Congo — Investigators have confirmed another 17 mass graves in central Congo, bringing the number to 40 discovered since clashes between soldiers and a local militia intensified in August, the U.N. human rights office said Wednesday, adding that Congolese soldiers reportedly killed at least 114 people, including 41 children.

The recent violence in once-calm Central Kasai province has included the killing of an American and a Swedish investigator for the United Nations last month, alarming the international community.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein warned Wednesday that if Congo’s government doesn’t investigate the violence effectively, he’ll urge that the International Criminal Court or another outside entity do it.

Congo’s government spokesman Lambert Mende said that they cannot be threatened like this by the United Nations and that the government already has shown it does not tolerate impunity.

“Congo is not under the guardianship of the United Nations,” Mende said. “We ask that they work with the military justice system which is already in place.” He said the military is already in the region carrying out investigations.

The U.N. statement said Congolese soldiers reportedly dug the 17 newly discovered mass graves after fighting with suspected militia members in late March and killing at least 74 people, including 30 children.

Congolese soldiers also reportedly killed at least 40 people, including 11 children, in the capital of Central Kasai province, Kananga, late last month while going door-to-door looking for militia members, the United Nations said.

The soldiers also reportedly buried an “unknown number of bodies” in a mass grave there.

“The discovery of yet more mass graves and the reports of continued violations and abuses highlight the horror that has been unfolding in the Kasais over the last nine months,” Zeid said. He said it is vital that Congo’s government take “meaningful steps, which to date have been lacking,” to investigate.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced in the region since government troops killed the leader of the Kamwina Nsapu militia in August, according to the U.N.